Unregulated monitoring topics

Lithium monitoring in water reports

Lithium appears in these reports through EPA's Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule. The result is monitoring evidence, not an enforceable federal drinking-water limit or violation finding.

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EPA dataSource review:

This is a report-reading explainer. It is not a live advisory, a household result, or a personal health assessment.

Examples on this site:
2 entries from annual water reports on this site link to this explainer.
What these results show:
Annual-report data is evidence for the named report period, not live monitoring.
Does this mean a violation?:
Not necessarily. A listed result is not automatically a violation. Check the reported value, applicable limit, report period, and status together.
Check current notices:
Current instructions must come from the water provider or another appropriate official source.

Term Identity

What the term means in an annual report

Lithium is an element included in UCMR 5 monitoring so EPA can learn more about its occurrence in public water systems.

Why it may appear

UCMR 5 collected lithium occurrence data during the 2023 through 2025 monitoring cycle to inform future evaluation.

How it may be printed

Reports may place lithium in a UCMR 5 or unregulated-monitoring table and may show a result, range, or unit. A missing unit must remain missing.

Other names you may see
Lithium; Lithium (Li)
Common report labels
Lithium; Lithium (Li); UCMR5 Lithium

Evidence

Official sources for this explainer

Use official federal, state, utility, or report sources before treating a page as final.

Monitoring Context

What the monitoring program does and does not establish

Use this Lithium monitoring context to read a report's printed fields; it does not replace the report or the current official rule.

Unregulated monitoring

Framework

Lithium under UCMR 5 is unregulated monitoring. EPA does not list a proposed or promulgated federal NPDWR for lithium and does not identify a lithium drinking-water health advisory on the reviewed UCMR page.

Limit or program terms

  • Unregulated monitoring
  • Minimum reporting level
  • No federal MCL

Units and source context

A UCMR minimum reporting level describes analytical reporting capability, not a health threshold or legal limit. Silver City prints a unit; Gallup does not, so no unit is inferred for Gallup.

What this page does not duplicate

There is no enforceable federal MCL for lithium in this UCMR 5 context. This page does not display a numeric legal limit, health-reference level, safe threshold, or violation status.

No standalone numeric limit table is rendered here. Read the source report's printed criterion and the current official source together.

Interpretation Boundaries

What a listed result does not establish

These Lithium monitoring boundaries apply to every report row connected to this explainer.

Household-level boundary

A UCMR report result does not establish current conditions at a particular tap or a household health conclusion.

What to verify next

  1. Confirm the report's UCMR table, sample period, and whether a unit is actually printed.
  2. Do not treat the minimum reporting level as a health or compliance threshold.
  3. Use EPA, the provider, or the state source for updated monitoring context.

Annual report examples

Examples of lithium monitoring in water reports

Read each result with its report year, public water system, original label, units, and any printed criteria or status.

Utility report2025 report row

Lithium

From Gallup Water System's 2025 report (PWSID NM3508317). Labels, values, units, criteria, and status wording are shown as printed.

Source table
UCMR5
Testing or report period
2023
Reported value
Amount Detected: 28.8 - 40.9
Reported range
ND - 9
Unit printed in row
Not listed in row
Criterion printed in row
Not listed in row
Status printed in row
Not listed in row

The source prints Amount Detected 28.8 - 40.9 and Range ND - 9 in separate columns with no unit column. Neither string is parsed, normalized, swapped, or treated as a status.

View row in report context →Open original report
Utility report2025 report row

Lithium (Li)

From Silver City Water System's 2025 report (PWSID NM3522609). Labels, values, units, criteria, and status wording are shown as printed.

Source table
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and Lithium
Testing or report period
2023
Reported value
Highest Level Detected: 83.3
Reported range
Range Low-High: 50.5-83.3
Unit printed in row
Micrograms/liter
Criterion printed in row
MCL column: There are no drinking water standards for lithium.; MCLG column: N/A
Status printed in row
MEETS EPA STD: N/A

The printed MCL wording and N/A status are report-period fields, not a current regulatory-status conclusion.

View row in report context →Open original report

Continue Reading

Related explainers and report-reading guides

Read about topics related to Lithium monitoring, or use a guide to understand the report as a whole.

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